How to Report Elder Fraud: Every Hotline to Call (2026)

If you are reading this at 11 p.m. because your mother just wired $8,000 to someone claiming to be from her bank's fraud department, start at the bank section below and come back for the rest. If you are reading this because you want to know the plan before it ever happens, read it end to end and put the five numbers on your parent's refrigerator. Protecting your parents online from scams in retirement is two jobs: prevention, and knowing exactly who to call in the first hour. This guide is the second job.

Who to call first, in order

Order matters more than speed of typing. Every minute spent on a government web form is a minute the money is still moving. Work this list top to bottom.

1. The bank, card issuer or payment app that moved the money — the number on the back of the card or on a statement, never a number from the scammer's message.
2. The National Elder Fraud Hotline, 833-372-8311, Monday–Friday. A case manager takes the details once and routes them to the right federal agencies.
3. ReportFraud.ftc.gov — the FTC's consumer fraud report, which feeds the Consumer Sentinel database used by 2,800+ law enforcement agencies.
4. IC3.gov — the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, required for any online, email, text or crypto element, and the only route to the Recovery Asset Team.
5. Local police — non-emergency line, in person if possible. You need the case number for the bank, insurers and any future dispute.
6. Adult Protective Services via the Eldercare Locator, 800-677-1116, if a caregiver, relative or POA holder is involved.
7. IdentityTheft.gov if any personal data was given up — it generates a recovery plan and an FTC Identity Theft Report.

Step 1: Call the bank or payment provider (first 60 minutes)

Only the financial institution can attempt a recall. Ask explicitly for the fraud department, not general customer service, and use these words: "I am reporting unauthorized activity and fraud-induced transfers on this account. Please freeze the account, attempt a recall on the transfer, and open a fraud case with a reference number."

• Wire transfer: ask for a SWIFT recall and a fraud hold. Wires sent the same day are sometimes stoppable; after 24–72 hours recovery drops sharply.
• Zelle, Venmo or Cash App: report inside the app and by phone. Reg E protects unauthorized transfers, and since 2023 major banks reimburse many imposter-scam Zelle transfers — ask specifically whether the imposter-scam reimbursement policy applies.
• Debit or credit card: request a new card number and dispute each charge. Credit-card chargebacks under the Fair Credit Billing Act are the strongest consumer protection that exists.
• Gift cards: call the issuer's fraud line on the back of the card with the card number and receipt. Balances are sometimes frozen if you call within hours — keep the physical cards and receipts.
• Cryptocurrency or wire to an ATM: report the wallet address and the kiosk operator, then include both in your IC3 report. Some state laws now require kiosk refunds for defrauded seniors within a set window.

Step 2: The National Elder Fraud Hotline — 833-372-8311

Launched by the Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime, this is the only federal line built specifically for fraud against adults 60 and older. It is free, and the difference from a web form is real: a case manager takes the report, files with the relevant agencies on your behalf, and can call you back about the same case instead of making you start over. They also connect families with victim-services and counseling resources, which matters more than people expect — shame keeps more seniors from reporting than confusion does.

Before you dial, have this ready: your parent's name and date of birth, the date and time of contact, the phone number or email the scammer used, the amount and payment method, any names or case numbers the scammer gave, and screenshots or the original letter. Reports from a family member are accepted.

Step 3: File with the FTC and the FBI

ReportFraud.ftc.gov

The FTC's report takes about ten minutes and feeds the Consumer Sentinel Network, which thousands of federal, state and local investigators search. The FTC does not resolve individual cases, but the aggregate data is what triggers enforcement actions against the call centers and payment processors behind these operations. Use ReportFraud.ftc.gov, not a search-engine ad — paid "fraud reporting" and "recovery" listings are themselves a scam category.

IC3.gov

File with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center for anything with an online component — an email, text, website, dating app, crypto wallet or remote-access session. IC3's Recovery Asset Team can freeze funds at the receiving bank, but that process realistically requires a report filed within roughly 72 hours with the exact amount, date and receiving account details. Adults over 60 file the largest share of dollar losses in IC3's annual Elder Fraud Report, and every one of those numbers started as a report like yours.

Step 4: Adult Protective Services and the Eldercare Locator

When the suspected exploiter is a caregiver, relative, neighbor, in-home aide or someone holding power of attorney, the case is elder abuse as well as fraud. Call the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 and ask for the Adult Protective Services intake number for your parent's county, or use your state's elder abuse hotline. APS can investigate, arrange a welfare check, and coordinate with banks in ways a police report alone cannot. Most states let you report anonymously, and reports made in good faith are protected. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911 first.

Step 5: The reports people skip that actually stop repeat calls

• Scam texts: forward the message to 7726 (spells SPAM). Free on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile; it feeds carrier-level blocking.
• Robocalls and unwanted calls: report at DoNotCall.gov and register your parent's numbers there.
• Phishing emails: forward to reportphishing@apwg.org, and to the impersonated brand (IRS: phishing@irs.gov; Amazon: stop-spoofing@amazon.com; PayPal: phishing@paypal.com).
• Medicare fraud: 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227) or your state Senior Medicare Patrol via smpresource.org.
• Social Security impersonation: the SSA Office of the Inspector General at oig.ssa.gov/report.
• IRS impersonation: phishing@irs.gov, and the Treasury Inspector General at tigta.gov.
• Mail fraud and fake checks: the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455.
• Investment or "pig butchering" crypto fraud: your state securities regulator via nasaa.org, plus IC3.
• Credit protection: a free one-year fraud alert at any one of the three bureaus, or a credit freeze at all three — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, free by law.

What to say on the call, word for word

Reporting goes faster when you lead with the four facts every agency asks for: what happened, when, how much, and how it was paid. Try this: "I'm calling to report fraud against my 78-year-old mother. On Tuesday the 14th she received a call from someone claiming to be her bank's fraud department at 555-0147. She transferred $8,400 by Zelle to an account ending 3391 at 2:40 p.m. She has not given any further information since. I need a fraud case opened, a recall attempted, and a reference number." Then stop talking and take notes — name, direct number, case number, next step and date.

What never to do after a scam

• Never pay a "recovery company" that promises to get the money back for a fee. Recovery-room fraud deliberately targets people who already appear on scam victim lists — being scammed once makes your parent a premium lead.
• Never call a number from the scammer's message, email signature, or the pop-up on the screen, even to "confirm" it is fake.
• Never let the scammer keep remote-access software installed. Disconnect the computer from the internet, uninstall AnyDesk/TeamViewer/LogMeIn, and change passwords from a different device.
• Never blame the parent out loud. Shame is the single biggest reason elder fraud goes unreported, and unreported fraud is repeat fraud — scam operations sell "reload" lists of victims who never complained.

How to make the next attempt fail

Reporting closes one incident; a small system prevents the next one. The three safeguards with the best return on ten minutes of effort are a "call me first" rule for any money request, a trusted contact added at the bank (not a joint owner — a trusted contact just gets alerted), and a family safe word that no caller claiming to be a grandchild can produce. Add account alerts for every transaction over a set amount and a credit freeze at all three bureaus, and most scam attempts run out of runway before money moves.

For the day-to-day part — knowing whether the text on the screen right now is real — Safe Retire Watch's free Scam Check tool gives an instant verdict on any pasted message, and the Link Check tool tells you if a URL is a phishing site before anyone clicks it. Members also get real-time alerts when new scams start circulating in their state, which is the difference between recognizing a script and hearing it for the first time while a stranger is shouting about an arrest warrant.

Quick reference: every number in one place

• National Elder Fraud Hotline (DOJ): 833-372-8311
• Eldercare Locator / Adult Protective Services: 800-677-1116
• FTC fraud report: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
• FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: IC3.gov
• Identity theft recovery plan: IdentityTheft.gov
• Medicare fraud: 800-633-4227
• Social Security OIG: oig.ssa.gov/report
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service: 877-876-2455
• Scam texts: forward to 7726
• Unwanted calls: DoNotCall.gov

Print that list, tape it inside a kitchen cabinet at your parent's house, and save the first two numbers in both of your phones. The families who recover money are almost never the ones who knew more about scams — they are the ones who knew who to call in the first hour.